Maybe I'm a Lion
by Galbadian
Summary: Lightning is a l'Cie candidate at the Bodhum VESTIGE. Aloof and a loner, she meets friends in her journey to fulfill more than a focus. FFXIII characters set in a FFVIII-themed AU. Eventual FLight. Rated mature for language and possibly more later on.
1. Prologue: Liberi Fatali

A storm sundered the sky unnoticed by the two adversaries below. Their eyes never leaving the other, they circled around the stony flat that was to be their arena. One of the two rushed forward. The thin, red cape attached to her shoulder snapped in the wind as she engaged her opponent. The weapon, a blade with a jarring mix of angles, arced tightly to strike its target.

The other braced himself for impact. He was unarmed. He raised his fists before himself and activated his defensive sigil, causing a symbol to flare onto the expansive back of his trench coat. The gunblade struck his arm, the blow absorbed onto the surface of his skin, mitigated by the defensive device. The gunblade wielder continued to strike upon his arms. He feinted to the side after another series of quick flurries, and threw a punch. He narrowly missed his opponent. Her lithe form executed a backflip, putting distance between them.

The two continued on for several passes. Blocking. Dodging. Parrying. The clouds overhead punctured; rain drops began to lightly shower the combatants. Audible breaths were heard among the spattering of rain as the opponents slowed for a slight respite.

The unarmed fighter's shoulders sagged, his stance now a semblance of the same fighting position he had initially taken. He kept his arms raised and ready. Although unable to slice through his defenses, he was not completely able to ward off all attacks. The device worked to muffle the force of attacks. The user was still required to evade when possible. As well, not everyone had the stamina to rely on such a device. Without the proper skill and knowledge, an untrained person would be overwhelmed by his opponent within short moments. While he had spent countless hours training with the equipment, the pugilist could already feel tightening of welts where the gunblade wielder had hit him in times when he was unable to move into a more favorable defensive position.

The other fighter was in somewhat of the same condition. Her left arm began to numb, a result of an ill-timed dodge that resulted in a well-placed punch to her shoulder. Her opponent was a brute of a man, where she was quick and precise, he was size and strength. Although she had landed more blows in their exchanges, the full force of his punches had devastating effect. She was clipped a few times, and the additive result became more taxing upon her physique.

She knew the two of them could not continue on for much longer. The other knew as well. He raised his fists higher, preparing himself for a final, explosive onslaught. She charged forward again, the same as the numerous times before. Unlike their previous passes, however, she stopped abruptly before reaching striking distance. During her initial advance, she had transformed her blade into another configuration, a more solid shape, absent of its sharp edge.

The change in strategy caught the other fighter by surprise. He had already hunkered down into a solid position more suited for an initial surge of physical attacks. He was wholly unprepared to dodge what came next.

Fire erupted from the barrel of the transformed blade, propelling a shot that drilled into his upper chest. Momentarily stunned by the impact, he broke guard. Taking the opportunity, the opponent rushed in. She swung her arm low, configured the weapon back into the familiar blade and, upon closing the last distance, tightly arced the blade upwards, the tip of the blade catching her opponent in the face.

Crimson erupted in his view. He panicked and grasped for power within himself. Within his hands, a crystalline construct snapped into existence. Instinctively, he brought the weapon down. He didn't notice the slight contact made by the axe-like weapon as everything faded into darkness.


	2. Bodhum VESTIGE

She awoke to a pounding sensation trapped within her skull. She sat up and raised her hand her temple. She felt the rough texture of the gauze that wrapped her head, intertwined with her curious pink locks. Her fingers traced the gauze to the front of her face. She hissed and pulled her hand away when she was met with a sharp, painful sensation upon touching the center of her brow.

In the corner of the room, someone chuckled. "You feeling alright there, soldier girl?"

She narrowed her eyes at the visitor leaning on the wall. He was an older man with dark complexion and sported a green overcoat.

"Tell me your name so I know your brain isn't all scrambled up".

She rolled her eyes. "Very funny, Sazh". He was her instructor, responsible for overseeing the general training of herself and her classmates.

When she wasn't forthcoming with the expected response, he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Lightning Farron", she continued.

Sazh pushed himself off the wall and offered a hand to his student. "The nurse says you're gonna be alright. You might have a scar though. Can't say I feel sorry for you after that stunt you pulled with Snow. You're lucky the headmaster thinks this is punishment enough. Otherwise…" Sazh trailed off, unwilling to state the alternative aloud. Students weren't allowed to leave the premises without permission and definitely not to live spar without an instructor present.

Lightning ignored him, standing from the bed without his assistance. Sazh drew back his hand and gave a wry smile; the refusal wasn't unexpected. The pink-haired student looked around the room for her missing articles, namely her gunblade. Sazh gave a questioning look that melted into understanding.

"Ah, your sister was her earlier. She grabbed your things and took them back to your dorm room. Something about 'In case you wake up before Snow and decide to finish the job'." Lightning made a clicking noise in exasperation. Wordlessly, she exited the room. Sazh followed his student out the door to walk with her down the corridors of the infirmary. "As your 'babysitter'", he often used to term to refer to his duties as class instructor, "I'm supposed to ask what happened, but I'm guessing you wouldn't tell me anyways."

His recalcitrant student stopped and Sazh followed suit. "Where's Serah?"

"No clue. She was with Snow when he woke up. You nicked him pretty good. Imagine the odds of that."

"The odds of what?" Lightning didn't wait for an answer as she broke into a stride.

"Looks like the two of you will be sporting similar scars."

She intoned in a dead pan. "Great."

"What's your business with Snow this time, anyways?"

"It's none of your-"

"Business, got it". Sazh waved his hand in the air as he completed her sentence. She was predictably aloof. "Just get to class tomorrow and don't be late, soldier girl. You still have to complete your field exam." Her instructor walked passed her, towards the atrium.

Lightning sighed in exasperation. She brought her hand to her face and cursed when she touched her brow. She had already forgotten about the wound. Truthfully, she had wanted to hurt Snow. Possibly maim him if she could. She really didn't intend to go as far as she did. The thought of the big oaf hanging about her sister made Lightning's insides churn uncomfortably.

Before their scuffle, Lightning had loaded her gunblade with concussive rounds. Nothing meant to seriously damage a person. She had intended on training that day upon the practice dummies in the training center to perfect her form; she wanted to save her live rounds later for when she trained against the monsters on the grounds. On her way to the training center, she spotted Serah and Snow in the common area of the dormitories.

The similarities between Lightning and her sister, Serah, were undeniable. Foremost, Serah sported the same unique shade of pink hair as her older sister. Unlike her sister, Serah's personality was warm and inviting. Three years her younger, Serah enjoyed the protection of her overbearing sister. She was never treated poorly; Lightning was more than ready to step in to intervene on her sister's behalf. Her protective tendencies were sometimes to the chagrin of the younger Farron sister.

When rumors were whispered that the diminutive pinkette and the leader of the self-proclaimed discipline committee, NORA, were seeing one another, Lightning didn't think much about it. First, Snow was in the same class as her. Secondly, the incongruency the two struck whenever they were side by side was too ridiculous to believe that anything could have been going on between them. Snow already towered over Lightning and she was about a foot taller than the younger Farron. Favoring hand to hand combat, Snow was massively built. Along with his height, he completely dwarfed Serah. The physical difference, added to their age difference, seemed an impossible obstacle even if the rumors were half-true.

That was what Lightning thought until she began to see the two together more often. After the class was dismissed for the day, Serah would be waiting outside of the classroom Snow and Lightning shared. She would greet her elder sister before darting off to meet up with Snow and his gang. Lightning caught her and Snow together more often than she would have liked. Snow visited Serah after archery class, congratulating her on her latest accuracy score or consoling her when she didn't get the marks she had expected. Avoiding Snow was near impossible considering they shared a class together. He made a point to try and talk to his unsociable classmate as much as possible.

Despite his attempts to warm the eldest Farron over, Lightning tended to ignore the brutish student. Lightning believed Snow and his posse were irresponsible; they would sneak out of the VESTIGE in the name of "protecting the peace". They would go on their little monster hunts on the verges of the neighboring town, Bodhum, from which the Bodhum VESTIGE was named. Often enough, the VESTIGE guards would catch them leaving the premises on unapproved leave and stiffly reprimand them. Nothing stuck for very long, though. Amodar, their headmaster, was known to be lenient and maybe a little too laidback than posterity demanded for the position. Deciding they were nothing more than trouble, Lightning avoided associating with the notorious group. Also, she found Snow to be incredibly annoying with his talk of being a "hero".

So when Lightning caught Snow hunkered over Serah, face locked onto hers, in the middle of the dormitory common room, Lightning burst into a fit of rage. She called out to the NORA leader, who upon hearing the vengeful cry, immediately ceased from his activities with the younger Farron sister. Serah's eyes widened. A blush immediately spread over her pale, delicate features. Snow's hand, now removed from the small of Serah's back, reached up to sheepishly rub his head. He wore a black bandana that matted his light blonde hair to his face. Another thing Lightning hated about him.

In a rush that caused her cape to flit about behind her, Lightning set upon Snow. The brass knuckles of her fingerless gloves connected solidly into the side of his face. Serah let out a cry of upset astonishment as Snow reeled backwards. Despite the gloves, her right hand began to pulse in agony from the force of the blow.

"She's only fourteen, you son of a bitch!" She shook out her hand to relieve some of the pain before tightening back into a fist.

He elicited a grunt as he straightened up. Snow opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by an indignant Serah.

"Fourteen and a half!" She said in a matter of fact tone. Snow took the opportunity to run a gloved hand over the side of his face, assessing the damage. Besides some immense tenderness, it didn't feel like anything was broken. He breathed out loudly in relief. "Besides! Since when did you have a say about my choice in boyfriends?". She now stood with her hands on her hips, intimidatingly staring down her sister.

"Boyfriends?" spoke both Lightning and Snow in unison. Lightning shot a death glare towards Snow, who slightly cowed.

Serah huffed, "You know what I meant." She gave a reassuring look to Snow and he beamed back a wide grin. He winced in pain afterwards, due to his recent injury. Serah returned to glare at her sister, "We're dating. It's official."

Lightning shook her head, "I can't accept this." She grabbed Snow by his fashionably worn shirt, twisting it in her grasp. Snow didn't budge, he set his jaw, preparing himself for another punch to the face. Cobalt colored eyes met steel blue as Snow matched Lightning's intense stare. Instead of throwing another punch, Lightning shoved him. Rather, she shoved her hand off of the immoveable hulk of a student and backed off a few steps. "You want to prove yourself? You and me." She pointed at him at the intonation of "you" and then back to herself. "Steppes of the Vile Peaks in an hour."

Confused, Snow tilted his head a bit. _Like an idiot_, Lightning thought. She wanted to punch him again just for the hell of it. Not that he didn't deserve it. She was going to thrash him later anyways. Although the thought was immensely satisfying, she was still too pissed to enjoy it.

"We aren't on leave." He looked over to his girlfriend, "Are we?"

Serah frowned, "No, we aren't. You don't have to do this Snow, she's just trying to intimidate you." She threw a look towards Lightning. The elder pinkette crossed her arms over her chest.

"Come on, Snow. I thought you were a _hero_." The last word dripped with obvious venom.

One gloved hand pounded into the palm of the other, eliciting an audible crack.

"You're right, and heroes never back down".

Lightning was almost embarrassed by how easy Snow took to her baiting. Her classmate had a weird complex about the word.

Serah went into full lecture mode, wagging her finger at her towering boyfriend, "Snow," she drew out his named in somewhat of a whine, "If you get caught you'll be in loads of trouble. The Vs weren't too understanding the last time you guys tried to sneak out." V was a colloquialism for VESTIGE guard, the established authority that held the student body in check. They were diametrically opposed to the upstart NORA group. Despite calling themselves a "disciplinary" group, NORA wasn't interested in enforcing minor infractions of the rules. The word "disciplinary" was just a formality they used to establish their group under official pretenses.

Snow chuckled deeply, "That's because our excuse was lame. Well, more like Gadot's excuse. He told the Vs that we need to get some special tampons for Yuj and that they were only sold in Bodhum."

Serah rolled her eyes, "Why didn't you just say they were for Lebreau? That would have been way more believable." Lightning tapped her foot, becoming more impatient with the exchange.

"That's what I thought too," Snow shrugged, "And the dude that was interrogating us said something along those lines too. Then Gadot called him sexist and then threatened to fight him for Yuj's honor. That's when they told us to just go back."

Serah started to giggle and Lightning wanted to groan despite having too much pride to do so aloud.

"Whatever. Don't bring your gang and don't be late." Lightning turned heel and made her way out of the dorms.

After Lightning was out of earshot, Serah turned to Snow. "Please don't let my sister kill you."

Snow puffed up his chest and grinned, "Don't worry, now that I'm your boyfriend there's no way I can go and let myself get killed like that." His grin faltered a little, "You weren't just saying that boyfriend stuff to, you know, get back at Lightning were you?"

"Of course not, silly." Serah smiled affectionately, "I mean it. Boyfriend and girlfriend." She intertwined her tiny fingers into his stocky, gloved digits.

He grinned impossibly wider, "Don't worry about it." Serah raised an eyebrow dubiously. "By the time we get there, she'll have chilled out some and I'll just talk some sense into her."


	3. Don't Be Afraid

Lightning made her way from the infirmary to the atrium of the VESTIGE. The giant, open area was the central hub that connected each corridor. Classes were out of session for the day. During this time, students could be seen lounging around the numerous fountains. Although the school provided uniforms for the students, they weren't worn except for special occasions. The students hung about in their plain clothes, exchanging the latest gossip or playing the popular card game, Tetra Master. Lightning passed by a group of students in an uproar over a close game. She never got into it, and she didn't have any cards to her name.

She cut through the center of the atrium, some students stared at her, noticing the gauze wrapped around her forehead. Lightning didn't pay any attention to them. She continued to beeline towards the dormitory corridor, the entrance marked with a lit, white placard.

L'Cie candidates in their final year were privileged to have their own rooms. Up until last year, Lightning had shared a dorm room with her sister. While Lightning didn't mind her as a roommate, Serah insisted that Lightning enjoy the benefits of being a senior classmate. Although she never said anything, the separation saddened Lightning a bit. Especially since it was Serah who suggested that Lightning move out. She didn't have time to dwell upon the memory much further; when she rounded the corner to her room, and opened the door, Serah was waiting for her. Upon seeing her sister, the younger Farron sat up from Lightning's bed.

The smaller pinkette stood with her hands on her hips looking none too pleased. Lightning had the feeling she was in for a severe reprimanding and Serah immediately confirmed her sister's suspicions.

"Claire!" Lightning winced at the use of her given name. Although Serah didn't like to use her sister's chosen moniker, she respected her decision in public. But behind closed doors, and especially when she was piqued about something or another, Serah wasn't too shy about throwing her real name about.

"I can't believe you'd go and do something like that. I didn't think you were seriously gonna kill Snow."

To Lightning's knowledge, Serah seemed to be lecturing her far more than what was expected of a younger sibling lately. These days, she felt like the tables had turned on their relationship. With the exception that Lightning never needed to be scolded for her choices in boyfriends. Actually, she was scolded for her lack thereof. Lightning rolled her eyes at the thought.

Serah continued on, "And your face!" She moved to fuss over Lightning's features, but the elder Farron waved her off.

"It's fine. It'll probably scar." She said nonchalantly.

"You call that fine? How are you gonna find a boyfriend with some nasty scar scaring everyone away?" Serah frowned. Lightning couldn't tell if her sister was joking. Probably not. "You'd think a couple of cure spells would clear things right up."

"You'd think. There's only so much magic can do, I suppose."

Serah sat back down onto Lightning's bed and motioned for her sister to do the same. Lightning obliged, taking a seat next to her sister.

"How is it?" Serah's eyes focused on the center of Lightning's brow.

Lightning raised a hand to her forehead, careful not to place too much pressure onto the injury. Undoubtedly, cure spells were administered to her in the infirmary, but Lightning suspected that the more potent cura and curaga spells were rationed for emergent situations. Considering the injury was more of a cosmetic concern than anything else at this point, Lightning could understand their reasoning. Spells weren't in infinite supply, after all.

Lightning motioned to the wrappings, "Help me take this off." Seeing her sister's worried expression, Lightning reassured her, "It shouldn't stick. It doesn't feel like it will and the cure spells should have closed it up for the most part".

Serah nodded and gently brought her hands up to remove the metal pieces that held the gauze to itself before helping unwind the dressings from her sister's wound. As Lightning predicted, the gauze came off cleanly. Upon seeing the injury, Serah bit her lip.

Lightning raised an eyebrow, "So? That bad?"

"It's not terrible. It's kinda cool." _It's almost exactly like Snow's scar, _Serah thought to herself. She didn't mention that part aloud, she thought better than to bring up her boyfriend's name at the moment. Comparing Snow to Lightning was a poor consolation, she recognized.

Serah spotted a small mirror from Lightning's immaculately kept desk and retrieved it. "You'd better look for yourself."

The elder pinkette took the mirror and examined herself. She lifted her hair from her face, careful not to touch her injury. The newly formed scar ran above her right eyebrow, cutting a diagonal across the bridge of her nose, slightly extending downwards. The scar was dark pink against her fair features. It wasn't jagged, the blade that struck her must have been sharp enough to leave a fairly clean cut.

Somehow, the blade also managed to avoid slicing off any of pink locks that framed her face, Lightning noticed. Due to the way her hair parted, some of the scar would show. She wasn't too worried about it. Although she kept minimal attention to her appearances, her hair was an exception. If Snow had managed to mangle her hair, she imagined she would have returned as soon as able, gunblade in hand, to finish the job.

Lightning offered a slight smile to her sister before softly handing the mirror back. Serah returned the mirror back onto the desk then sat back down on the bed.

"I'm just glad that you're both alright." Serah looked to the floor and wrung her hands together, "I mean, if anything were to happen…"

A hand reached out to gently touch her shoulder.

The worried emotions that Serah struggled to hold back rushed through. Tears stung at her eyes.

"Serah," Lightning lowered her head to meet Serah at eye level. Upon seeing the genuine look of concern on her sister's face, Lightning softened a bit, "You deserve better than him".

Serah stared at her sister with a dumbfounded expression. "Are you serious? You almost kill someone and that's all you can say?"

The ghost of an emotion that had graced Lightning's features disappeared, replaced by her normally stony faced expression. "I am serious. Out of all the guys in the VESTIGE, you just _had_ to pick Snow Villiers. He's a waste of time and space."

Serah practically jumped from the bed. "He's not a waste of time and space. He's my boyfriend."

"Serah." Lightning remained seated, arms folded in her lap. "Be honest with me: are you dating him to piss me off?"

"What?"

Lightning continued, "I know I'm hard on you sometimes, but it's for your own good. You know that, right?"

"This has nothing to do with me. You just hate him."

"Serah-"

"You aren't even trying to get to know him! He's a good guy. Sweet. Funny. Gentle." Lightning rolled her eyes again, an act that didn't go by unnoticed by her younger sister. "He's my hero."

"Hero?" A pink eyebrow raised incredulously. "You mean the guy who beats up hedge frogs outside of Bodhum?"

"That's not all he does and you know it."

"He beats up triffids too."

"That's not what I meant! Why can't you just be my sister for once and support me?" Her question was more of an outburst.

"I am supporting you in the best way I know how. And that's by not supporting him. NORA is trouble, Serah." She went on to further emphasize, "Snow is trouble. If you're going to date someone, then date someone not Snow." Her tone rang in finality.

The smaller pinkette indignantly glared at her older sister before turning to leave. Lightning simply watched as Serah wordlessly walked out. After she slammed the door in a loud thud, it reverberated a moment on its frame.

Lightning decided that moving out might not have been such a bad thing after all.

* * *

Energetic conversation filled the classroom as the students chattered among themselves with the exception of the two students that occupied the desks in the back of the class. The instructor cleared his throat loudly, in an unsuccessful attempt to restore order. The students up front abruptly turned their attention to him while the others continued to ignore him.

"Is that how it's gonna be?" Sazh spoke to no one in particular. He raised his voice a little more, "Guess we won't be having a half day after all." Conversations started to die down. "Cause it seems to me that you guys wanna sit in here and read some training manuals for the rest of the day."

The remaining students gave their instructor their full attention. Conversations killed.

Sazh smirked. "Heh. That's what I thought. I'm letting you guys go, but stay out of trouble. The real thing is today. And remember," He cast his gaze to the back of the room, to two individuals specifically, "training isn't about hacking your partner in half."

Snow threw up his hands innocently. Lightning stared at the console at her desk, ignoring the comment.

"For those of you that missed yesterday's exam, meet with me after class. That's it."

Most of the class cleared out. Snow approached Lightning with a smile.

"So, ugh, no hard feelings about yesterday, right?" He extended out his hand in a friendly gesture.

Lightning looked up from her terminal with a glare that promised physical violence.

"Ohh-kay. See you round." Snow briskly walked away, not willing to risk the reply. He gave a casual salute to Sazh as he walked out the door.

Lightning pushed herself from her terminal and walked over to her instructor.

Before she said anything, Sazh began, "Snow finished his exam yesterday after he woke up. That boy sure can take a helluva hit." Sazh motioned to the middle of his forehead, "So it's just gonna be me and you today, soldier girl. We'll meet by the entrance of the VESTIGE, right outside of the gates. Don't forget to prep that eidolon of yours." With that, Sazh left the classroom.

The reminder was unnecessary. At an early age l'Cie candidates trained with eidolons and were eventually given an eidolith of their own when they came of age. The user's eidolon was matched based on their compatibility and personality. The eidolith, otherwise known as a summoner's stone, becomes a part of the person, melding with the individual. The user need only manifest their eidolith through will to summon their eidolon.

Lightning exited the classroom and was stopped by a group of students.

"You're so lucky! You get to do your eidolon training with Captain Katzroy!" one of the students clapped her hands together.

The Katzroy Squad. For reasons Lightning didn't fully fathom, a club was dedicated to their instructor. One of the students even sported their instructor's distinguishing afro.

The afro-haired student, Lightning didn't bother to remember his name, folded his arms across his chest, "Psh. You and Snow both. Cuts to the face and all of a sudden you guys get special treatment."

Instinctively, Lightning's hand when to the gunblade strapped behind her.

The student took a step back and held out his hands defensively, "I mean! What I meant was," His voice hitched. The rest of his group gave him looks of disapproval. He cleared his throat but was interrupted by another female member of the group.

"What he means is, you better not give Captain Katzroy a hard time today or you'll have to deal with the Katzroy squad!" She stomped her foot to accentuate her threat. Lightning gave her a once over. The girl was quite mousy and didn't look like she much to back her claim.

"Whatever." Deciding they weren't worth the trouble, Lightning moved passed them, causing the group to jump aside. They didn't bother to stop her as she walked through the hallway.

The VESTIGE was an academy that housed multiple floors. The classrooms were located on the second floor, Lightning decided it would be easier to just take the central elevator to the first floor. As she approached the elevator, the doors opened and something rushed out. Whatever it was collided into Lightning, almost knocking her off balance. Lightning regained her senses and looked to the culprit.

A girl with curly, orange pigtails raised to her feet. She brushed off the dirt from her…half-fur skirt? Lightning wasn't sure what to make of the skimpily dressed girl adorned with bags, beads and bangles.

"I'm soooo sorry!" Without waiting for a reply, the girl with the curious accent spoke again, "Oh! Didn't I just run into you? No, I suppose you're too tall. Did you just come from class? Does that mean it's over? Ughhh, for whyyy?"

"You're not from around here." Lightning stated simply. _No one here dresses like that, anyways_. _Or talks like that. _

Transfer students were actually quite common. The Bodhum VESTIGE was the only VESTIGE allowed to conduct l'Cie examinations. Students from the Eden and Oerba VESTIGEs were required to transfer into Bodhum to complete their final exam.

"You can tell?" She gave a cute curtsy, "I'm lost! You wouldn't mind showing little ol' me around, would ya?"

"Actually, I-"

She took Lightning's hand with both of hers and shook it with vigor. "You're too kind! I know someone who's always like, 'them Cocoon vipers are a real unhelpful lot, they are," she dropped her voice real low during her impersonation. Lightning assumed she was imitating a man.

Lightning pulled back her hand a little too quickly than intended. The ginger haired girl didn't seem to notice. She kept beaming back a cute smile.

"Fine. Follow me." Lightning caved. She punched the button for the elevator and stepped inside. The small, energetic girl followed closely behind.

Lightning thanked the Maker that their descent was only one floor. Sharing an elevator with one other person was awkward enough. Luckily, the other girl wasn't trying to make small talk with her. Instead, the other girl stared at the doors, smiling.

They exited the elevator and made their way to the center of the VESTIGE atrium. There, they came to a stop in front of a lit information board. Lightning pointed to the marked locations, giving brief explanations of each. The girl listened intently. As she nodded her head, her orange curls bobbed up and down.

"…And this is the Quad." She pointed to the respective marking, "It's where the VESTIGE festival is held. The students are responsible for organizing it."

"Oooh! That sounds like fun!"

Lightning didn't comment on it. "Is there anything else you wanted to know?"

"I should be fine from here. Thanks a bunch. I really do appreciate the help. Later!" The girl skipped off towards one of the corridors.

Now that the other student was gone, the pinkette went to meet her instructor. She walked through the gates of the VESTIGE, the guard inside the toll-like booth gave her a half-hearted nod as she passed though.

Outside the gates, Sazh waited, foot tapping impatiently. When he saw his student, he called out to her, "Soldier girl! What took you so long!"

"Something came up."

The older man frowned, "You didn't run into a certain student named Snow, did you?"

"No," _but she was almost as annoying_.

Sazh eyed his student suspiciously, "Okay then. Let's get this over with. I gotta pick up Dajh later."

Lightning listened, arms crossed over her chest as Sazh explained the details to the exam.

"By now you're familiar with summoning an eidolon. There's more to it than just throwing up some fancy stone in the air and watching it shatter. Users draw the power from their eidolons to augment their natural abilities. Not only that, eidolons can momentarily take on another form.

Today, we're heading to a proving ground within the Vile Peaks. When we get there, I'll tell you more."

The trek from the VESTIGE uneventful except for the few wild hedge frogs and triffids, creatures that resembled flying plants with stingers, they encountered. The two dispatched the monsters easily enough. Lightning cut through the annoyances with precise strikes of her gunblade. Occasionally, Sazh picked off some creatures with his dual pistols. Technically, Sazh was supposed to be accompanying his student as an observer. Lightning suspected he was helping to speed things up to save time.

They eventually made it to the entrance of the field exam. On their way, they passed the stone clearing where Lightning and Snow dueled. She kept quiet as they passed along the stony clearing, not wanting to bring up the subject again. At the entrance of the proving grounds, two VESTIGE guards stood in front of dilapidated stone pillars.

"Is this last student?" One of the guards asked.

"Yep, sure is." Sazh jutted his thumb in his student's direction.

The guard turned to Lightning. "This is the entrance to the l'Cie candidate field exam. At the end of the path, you'll come across an eidolon bound to a crystal. Defeat the eidolon and it will impart a fragment of the crystal."

The other guard approached, "Choose a time limit."

Sazh explained, "You'll get more favorable marks for choosing less time. Thirty minutes is the average."

"Ten minutes," she said without hesitation.

Sazh stroked his goatee, "That's awfully ambitious, solder girl. You sure about that?"

"I'll be back in ten minutes."

The guard nodded and stepped aside. "Very well, once you cross the threshold, the timer will begin."

"Now pay attention to what I'm-," Lightning burst into a sprint, her cape trailing behind her, "about to say" Sazh finished vainly. He sighed and broke into a run to catch up with the speeding student. He wheezed a bit as he ran. "I'm too old for this."

Broken bits of buildings and scrap metal lined the pathway to the crystal. The Vile Peaks was the site of an ancient metropolis that had fallen into ruin long before the VESTIGEs were built. Supposedly, an ancient conflict had leveled the ground where massive buildings once stood. Now, only rubble and junk remained. Rusted metal scaffolding stuck haphazardly out of the ground and chucks of stone littered the ground.

The heaps of ruin were off-limits to the average citizen. Besides the VESTIGE guards that oversaw the field exams and the machines that roamed ruins, the place was abandoned. Metallic automatons, remnants of the past, patrolled the area. They attacked any living thing they came across. Attempts to clear out the ruins were futile. The robots found ways to reconstruct themselves from the junk parts.

The few automatons that crossed her path were quickly cut down via swift strikes of a gunblade. Lightning moved through the constructs with ease. The stick-like contraptions were troublesome obstacles at best.

Sazh managed to somewhat follow her. He had to pause every now and then to catch his breath. Lightning was one of his best students. Her physical prowess was almost unmatched by any student in her class. When a small ravine blocked their passage, Lightning maneuvered the terrain by jumping on the junk strewn across the chasm to reach the other side. Less acrobatic, Sazh decided to take another path.

Lightning could see the crystal in the near distance. She sprinted a little faster to reach it. As she neared the clearing, another automaton appeared. Without slowing, she drew her gunblade and fired at the machine, blasting it to pieces.

At the end of winding tunnel-like path, a large crystal was embedded into the earth. Light shown off its multiple facets, and a warm red hue emanated from within. Lightning slowed down upon reaching the clearing. Amidst all of the ruin and metal decay, the crystal shone like a beacon. It was beautiful. She drew further in, closer to the crystal. Before she could get close enough to touch the crystal's surface, a giant beast materialized into the air above it.

Lightning once again unsheathed her gunblade from its holster as she readied herself to face the eidolon. The humanoid beast was swathed in flames. Large horns protruded from the skull. It descended onto the earth with a loud thud. Sharp claws extended out towards the lone human before it.

"PUNY HUMAN! YOU DARE CHALLENGE IFRIT?!" The eidolon bellowed the words.

In response, Lightning raised her gunblade and fired. Ifrit howled in anger, throwing a fire spell in her direction. She somersaulted backwards, avoiding the spell.

Ifrit advanced, hurtling towards her.

"Odin."

Lightning grasped at her chest. A small, crystalline object was pulled forth. She threw it into the air and leapt after it, sword in hand.

A blinding light erupted from where the crystal shattered. Instead of sinking claws into his prey, the eidolon slammed into another eidolon. Odin had thrown its master back into the air before materializing a shield to slam against Ifrit. Lighting landed safely to the ground.

Odin paced before Lightning protectively. The eidolon was more than twice her size. Resembling a white knight, it sported a giant shield and a double bladed sword. As Ifrit attempted to return its attention to Lightning. Odin rushed forward and used his shield to strike Ifrit, knocking the fiery eidolon away.

Ifrit's claws dug into the ground to slow the backwards momentum. It rebounded, engaging Lightning's eidolon. Lightning zipped in, taking the opportunity to slash at the enemy eidolon. A large gash erupted from Ifrit's side, flames spewed from the wound. The eidolon roared. It turned to attack the human but was thwarted once again when Odin moved to intercept him.

From a distance, Lightning threw spells at the opposing eidolon. Thunder crackled through the air as the spells hit their mark. Ifrit reeled backwards. Odin closed in with his sword, cutting swaths into the other eidolon.

Ifrit's movements became sluggish. Its charge was slower this time and it clawed less vigorously against Odin's shield. Lightning rushed forward with her gunblade, sensing the master's movements, Odin disengaged from its target. The opportunity was timed perfectly. Lightning thrust her gunblade into the center of Ifrit's chest before the beast could defend. With a final roar, the eidolon imploded upon itself.

Crystalline dust expelled into the air; although the dust was harmless, the knight-like eidolon had moved before its master in an instant, shielding her from the particles. A small shard hung in the air for a moment before falling to the ground. Odin stepped aside, keeping a watchful eye on the pinkette.

Lightning sheathed her blade. She walked over and picked up the shard. It carried to same crimson coloration as the large crystal that inhabited the clearing. The shard was lackluster, however, and did not share the same glint of light. She turned it over in her hand a couple of times, examining it before securing it in her satchel.

"Lightning!" Sazh called out her name breathlessly. "Soldier girl!" He doubled over for breath, hands on his knees. "Damn. You didn't even wait for me."

The student just looked at him.

He sucked in more air and stood up. "It's a good thing too. We're almost out of time."

Lightning cursed and was about to take off until Sazh stepped in front of her.

"Hold on! Remember what I said about eidolons taking a different form? You can shift your eidolon into something that can carry you back."

Lightning face-palmed. "That would have been nice to know earlier."

"Hey, I tried to tell you. Now focus on changing your eidolon into a vehicle or something that can get you somewhere fast. Your eidolon should know what to do." The eidolon remained stationary, waiting for the master's command.

Lightning focused for a moment, closing her eyes. In the next, she shouted a battlecry, "We do this together!"

Odin thrusted its sword into the ground and leapt up into the air. Parts churned and rotated. The shield merged with the eidolon. When the transformation was complete, the eidolon resembled a giant horse. Lightning grabbed the sword from the ground then leapt onto the horse-like eidolon. She pulled the sword into two pieces, wielding each in a hand.

Sazh sized up the eidolon. "Not bad. Could have been worse. Some poor kid had to make do with a castle. Imagine that."

Settled onto Odin, she urged the eidolon forward.

Once again, the instructor cursed under his breath as he was left behind.

* * *

Thanks for the reviews.


End file.
